tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88011822018-03-09T09:17:07.570+01:00Crayola LecternUppers and DownersChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-26710770635142273012017-10-31T14:34:00.000+01:002017-10-31T19:56:26.028+01:00Stepping into the zone with Lost Horizons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-57sE3IiAPeA/Wfh0vg2BbzI/AAAAAAAAAtI/YiZxF7gQm4UAhOJki9LlgXhHwu9sNE7zQCLcBGAs/s1600/LostHorizonsSimonRichie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="1024" height="177" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-57sE3IiAPeA/Wfh0vg2BbzI/AAAAAAAAAtI/YiZxF7gQm4UAhOJki9LlgXhHwu9sNE7zQCLcBGAs/s320/LostHorizonsSimonRichie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>For me, great music is three dimensional. It opens up a portal through which I can enter another realm and explore within as if it were some lucid dream, leaving my actual surroundings behind for a while if need be. It regenerates the soul and provides a safe place for emotional release.<br />The air particles in the 3D sound-zone vibrate and react to each other, which further enhances the sensation of stepping into another world. In lesser circumstances, say standing on the side of a busy road or hearing, say Jeremy Hunt lie about the NHS, it's also often something we can choose to tune out. The life affirming sounds are the ones to grab and indulge in.<br />I have Noise Induced Hearing Loss with concomittant Tinnitus; sound is dear to me. It might be something I lose altogether one day. I spend my time saying "pardon?" often pretending I've heard people and hoping I am nodding appropriately. It's a sad existence to some degree and frustrating to those with whom I spend my time. I wear hearing aids when necessary which help a bit but also add to the jumble of sibilance already present from the Tinnitus.<br />My stepping into that music world of aural 3D, of course involves a leap of faith on my part as a listener. I have learnt to imagine some of the sounds I miss in conversation and I know this occurs in music too. I am interacting with the source, adding my own, imagined frequencies as well as overtones which I know must exist up there in the upper partials of the notes and combinations which are being played.<br />Playing in Simon Raymonde and Richie Thomas's Lost Horizons live band is helping me understand all this more clearly. They have made an album, borne of improvisations, albeit fully realized musical narratives, genuine and sincere journeys created in the moment, not patched together afterwards. Trusted friends and collaborators were invited in to add their own (mainly vocal) contributions and the album came to fruition organically in this way with much love. No amount of Noise Induced Hearing Loss can obscure the love that goes into this music; it's not just about the notes or the words that we (mis)hear, but the intent in the crafting. In that vein, I'm trusting that any "right, wrong" notes I'm adding also weave themselves seamlessly into the Lost Horizons live tapestry.<br />&nbsp;It's quite a privilege and a challenge to be let in and help flesh out these songs for the live arena. The live band have been selected with "who" we are in mind, I think as much as what we are able to contribute to the mix. Crucially, playing is about having fun. When the emphasis of playing music is fun, the music flows free with joyful voice. Playing these songs in the band, it's clear that we share a space in a special corner in the big old music room of life.<br /><br /><a href="https://bellaunion.greedbag.com/buy/ojal-9/" target="_blank">Lost Horizons - Ojalá is out on Nov 3rd form Bella Union</a><br /><br />We play live:<br />October 30th - Liverpool Music Week at Leaf, Bold St<br />November 4th @ Idno, Reykjavik (<a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://icelandairwaves.is/" target="_blank">Iceland Airwaves</a> festival)<br />November 12th @ Utrecht (<a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://leguesswho.nl/" target="_blank">Le Guess Who?</a> festival)<br />November 14th @ Le Botanique, Brussels (<a data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://autumnfalls.be/2017/Home" target="_blank">Autumn Falls</a> festival)<br />November 18th @ Rialto Theatre, Brighton<br />November 19th @ 100 Club, London<br />November 20th @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds<br />November 21st @ Soup Kitchen, Manchester<br />November 23rd @ Ramsgate Music Hall, RamsgateChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-82434642136298837182017-09-27T12:13:00.001+01:002017-09-27T12:43:53.700+01:00Socialists make my music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lS-LrYBUpVM/WcuKmEAWc9I/AAAAAAAAAs0/TQef2OlIDhQPudfORz-8EbbzQl0WJMa9QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_2332.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1136" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lS-LrYBUpVM/WcuKmEAWc9I/AAAAAAAAAs0/TQef2OlIDhQPudfORz-8EbbzQl0WJMa9QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_2332.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>I hear all this talk of how so and so is such an amaaazing musician, man, usually attributed to males and by males. "You should definitely have them play with you..."<br />My immediate natural response is a little unpleasant taste in my mouth. Whilst I feel that I already play with the best "musicians" I could ever hope to play with, there is so much more to being the right person and that, folks is what I also have in my life.<br /><br />You could be the best bloody musician in the world but I probably wouldn't want you in my band. I need a connection with you as a person, something relaxed where we're not leeching off each other, where we're content to just be, to be imperfect, irreverent, funny and kind. Where we have no hierarchy, where we share ideas and bring stuff to the table because we like doing stuff together and where we take it home and work on it because we're still kind of perfectionists. <br /><br />Basically you need to be a socialist if you're gonna play in *my* band. And you have to have the vibe - that elusive thing. But say you did have everything else but were a bit right wing, I'm sorry, I couldn't share with you in that selfless way and it would never work. This is crucial, I'm afraid. My world is distinct from the world of competition or money-as-god. Magic cannot flourish in the hearts of the Right.<br /><br />Power to the people.<br /><br />Addendum: (You don't even have to call yourself a "Socialist," but I will always perceive the good intent and raw talent of course) Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-82482679591053128522017-03-14T13:18:00.000+01:002017-03-20T16:55:55.466+01:00North Sea Radio Orchestra and Crayola Lectern 11/03/17<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-immRL0nx2sQ/WMfa9ciafjI/AAAAAAAAAsc/E2jljhP3aAs6CPX-FArXdWgbvYobmannwCLcB/s1600/NSRO_lithosunFLAT_A6_200dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-immRL0nx2sQ/WMfa9ciafjI/AAAAAAAAAsc/E2jljhP3aAs6CPX-FArXdWgbvYobmannwCLcB/s320/NSRO_lithosunFLAT_A6_200dpi.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>Musica Lumini hosted its inaugural event on Saturday at the mighty <a href="http://www.stpaulsworthing.co.uk/" target="_blank">St Paul's</a>. The idea is to bring enchanting, unique music from out of town to the people of Worthing. Under 14s being free, gives a chance for young families to go to a gig and have an enriching experience in the knowledge that the ticket sale has enabled the event to occur and the profit to go to a chosen charity.<br />&nbsp;Not everyday that a group of this stature graces Worthing with their sonic bounty. North Sea Radio Orchestra are simply unique. Part Pärt, part Neu! part Sea Nymphs, part something else entirely, they transported a full house at St Paul's to a new reality for an hour and a half. Pulsating drones from strings, synth and Philicorda overlaid with guitar ostinatos, woodwind motifs, the rich, plaintive voice of Sharron Fortnam, harmonic colours darting around like ghosts from the vibraphone. Craig Fortnam's compositions have a knack of transporting you directly to the heart of the Zone and in spaces such as the cloistered surroundings of St Paul's, the effect is magnified, from the pianissimo beginnings of the set through an adventure of songs and to the final note. This isn't yer usual fare for a provincial seaside town and Worthing knew that and the people loved it. <br />&nbsp;NSRO, you made a sleepy seaside town very trippy. Great to see a lot of people from neighbouring Brighton over here too.<br />Thanks go to Anthony Dickinson for the use of the space and the Mulligatawny rider, Mike Baker for his patience and talents in Soundmanship and Roy Weard and crew for coming along and filming the occasion on their very snazzy camera gear. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour. <br />&nbsp;Profits from this show have gone to <a href="http://www.coastalwestsussexmind.org/" target="_blank">Coastal West Sussex MIND</a>.<br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-53363690458565909632017-01-26T11:08:00.003+01:002017-03-14T13:39:58.426+01:00Silence is my musicThere's a lot of unwanted noise. Adverts, tinnitus, lying polititians on TV, bigots, self-satisfied, disingenuous, sociopathic, narcissists, bureaucrats, radio DJs and yes, Music.<br />There, I'll say it again. Music. Predominantly music of the West - UK/Europe &amp; USA market.&nbsp; Now, how's that for a generalisation?<br />Music which does not speak to the soul in any way, music as advertising tool, generic, formulaic, banal, over-produced, predictable, auto-tuned for fashionable effect, insipid, blank, copyist, boring. Music as a numbing distraction to life, something to fart along to on an imaginary dancefloor. Radio fodder for a toxic mainstream media to spew upon the masses to accompany their Right wing agendas.<br /><br />Music whose purpose is merely to conjure up comparisons to previous heroes or heroines and then to drift away, happy with with the critical acclaim, the ego temporarily satiated.<br />"But genius steals, talent borrows," you opine... Well, it depends on its motivation. Some might manage it but they usually have an obvious factor 'X,' all their own.<br />Music with a pumping beat to have bad sex to or to keep you going at the gym in your headphones whilst Jeremy Kyle's hateful brand of negativity illuminates the place on the TV screens.<br />Unexceptional music. Music without enchantment. Shit music. Music as faeces.<br />Music that makes people hate music.<br />Music to create money, to sell product, units, merch. To fulfill contract.<br />I feel the same way about some Bach or even Mozart. Music to keep the paymasters happy.<br />There's a lot of it about. always has been.<br /><br />I was once called "the most negative person I have ever met" when I dissed a popular singer (I can't honestly remember his name). The music was actually ok and quite 'fun' compared to much radio friendly fodder at the time, but it still to me, sounded cynically put together and was marketed in such a way that ticked all the predictable "this will sell" boxes, which of course it did. The music wasn't about much but it was, as I say, ok and well made. Hell, I'd even go as far as to say "feel good," if only it didn't make me feel so bad. One song about fat girls being sexy, I remember thinking how cynical it was, to attempt to corner a part of the market in that way. This skinny guy with his toned abs somehow thinking that his benevolent attitude to overweight girls is going to make them all rush out and buy his record, cos these girls aren't individuals are they, oh no. They are just a one-brained, glutinous mass of product purchasers as far as he and his team are concerned.<br /><br />&nbsp;I was offended by the negativity remark, there being much humour in my conversational ennui. To me, being negative equals happily swallowing all the shit they ram down your Radio 1 infested ears until you somehow decide it is really great or cool or whatever. It equals watching Nestlé adverts and buying the brand irrespective of their business practises. Same mentality. Going to Starbucks whether they pay their Corporation Tax or not, because really you don't fucking care about how that money might just help the community at large instead of lining the pockets of unscrupulous men.<br /><br />&nbsp;Don't get me wrong, I'm a hypocrite. I haven't looked into what Blogspot or Facebook's business practises are like and I use an iPhone. Most of us are part of the wider problem. And that <i>is</i> negativity.<br />&nbsp;Positivity, in this context is about not consuming every other thing that is advertised to you.<br /><br />It is the rests, the pauses, the rubato and the silences which build a sense of wonder in music. Stuff that click tracks only allow where the human surrenders to the technology as Kraftwerk well understood. It is the intent behind the words sung and those implicit that make you feel connected on a spiritual level; the subtle attention to the heart of it which feeds the big picture. It doesn't have to be deep, it just requires an honest pulse. Humour, abandon, hopelessness, hopefulness, lust, love, everything can be done without disingenuousness. It's easy.<br />But if there's one thing that grates, it is this plethora of faux soul. Soul comes from your own rhythms. <br />Sure, be sexy, be fashionable, be an icon, be fun, be positive but be yourself.<br />Or I shall choose beautiful silence every time (albeit tarnished with Tinnitus).Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-68153634031424032242016-09-09T10:07:00.001+01:002016-09-09T12:01:11.274+01:00Nostalgia of the Present (or Check out my Instagram)What are we doing? I ain't judging, cos I'm guilty too.<br />Technology reached the stage where we can pretend that a snapshot taken right now is able to replicate one whose chemical colour composition has declined since it was taken back in 1972. People who recall the 70's and 80's might look back at the faded photographs of their youth with a certain longing, remembering lost places, pets, friends and relatives, regarding it as a portal of sorts into a previous life, half remembered. The degraded print both enhances the romantic experience whilst simultaneously hiding the details; what it gives, it taketh away and somehow this lack of visual satisfaction is able to feed the imagination enough to make the idea of these memories more appealing than the truth of the event.<br /><br />&nbsp;How is it that the kidz who don't remember the 90's, let alone the '70's enjoy this ability to recreate an age they can't possibly have the same connection with, I might ask - until, that is I consider how I myself might be tempted to sepia-tone the present or imbue it with, say the Victorian mystery of a daguerreotype.<br /><br />&nbsp;Is the family album to blame? Those old pictures of my youthful grandparents in Weston-Super-Mare in 1924, my father's experience of growing up on a tea plantation in India in WW2?&nbsp; Photos where you can almost touch base with those people and places, where it seems so wrong that those things don't exist anymore.<br /><br />The habitual selfie is a thing; without meaning to judge, it seeks validation, proving that "I was here," to other people who, themselves are out proving that they are elsewhere. We all like to look nice, showing our good side. Pulling the duckface doesn't mean you necessarily have had plastic surgery or botox, but that pose nevertheless seems to be an incredibly popular way for people to portray themselves. Is modern life really this banal or would the Elizabethans have been the same, given the chance? They wouldn't have been advertised to so relentlessly, so I'd guess on there being no duckfaces in an antique selfie,&nbsp; some other fancy frills maybe but I'm drifting away from the increasingly elusive point.<br /><br />Our relationship with time is changing as we seek to look through rose-tinted spectacles at the present moment and to share it through the mystic veil of the phone screen with others. Is it a way of prolonging the moment without getting to really savour it?&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;I don't know, but I'm guilty. Here's me: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cola_ray/">https://www.instagram.com/cola_ray/</a>Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-61628194485949970452016-07-15T11:46:00.002+01:002016-07-15T11:46:18.167+01:00Review: Fuschia Days - The Fiction Aisle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fij7UAIwCxE/V4i89sZ4qcI/AAAAAAAAArw/KkhommasBGckoSLWWKD5CrVXAhUvpIbTgCLcB/s1600/fuschiadays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fij7UAIwCxE/V4i89sZ4qcI/AAAAAAAAArw/KkhommasBGckoSLWWKD5CrVXAhUvpIbTgCLcB/s320/fuschiadays.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Every now and again, although less and less frequently, a piece of music arrives which feels like a cosmic gift, soothing and allowing my mind to wander in a new space, free from the burdens of the world without denying them. It allows me to contemplate the world and my time here whilst affording the luxury of creating a vast 3-dimensional illusory world where I am free to roam, to imagine.<br />&nbsp;It is a ghost land where I fall in love all over again. It reminds me of the love I have in my life and teaches me to remember this, not to take any of it for granted. This is music which brings tears - healing tears which have remained unshed for too long; a very physical reaction of the skin as the music drifts through me, goosebumps, hairs on the back of the neck, the body is undergoing a deep tissue spirit massage.<br />It doesn't demand you listen to it either, rather it draws you in. I believe in music as a force of magic, that we can change people's minds in some ways. There's an element of the hypnotist in the exceptional composers and music makers; Thomas White can count himself as one of them.<br />If this sounds all a bit hippy dippy, I have to say that is not where I'm coming from. I'm coming from the same places of pain, stress, worry and occasional despair which most of us experience. This music is a gift in that it appears to understand this and it offers to hold our hand through its journey.<br />&nbsp;I really feel that I will enjoy this album for some years to come.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://chordorchard.bandcamp.com/album/fuchsia-days" target="_blank">Buy it here</a> - support those that made it.Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-85034318414196606052016-01-11T12:02:00.003+01:002016-01-11T12:31:35.153+01:00Some thoughts on dying&nbsp;First words I read today, "David Bowie RIP."<br />There was a physical surge of electricity shot through me for a moment and my heart skipped a beat. It is now four hours later and it feels strange to weep for someone I never 'knew' in the conventional sense of the word. I hate confused weeping - it's so much more cathartic when the reasons are solid, although we really wouldn't want to go there either.<br />&nbsp;Thinking back over so many of his songs, listening to them in my mind, it is as if they all have concealed messages whose truth only becomes evident after death. When the voice I'm 'hearing' will never sound again, only as a document or a memory, as something now quite dead outside of our personal dream bubbles.<br />&nbsp;I know we like to think or say, this or that will live on, to make ourselves feel more comfortable, but for me, the feeling is that all these songs which until now were living somehow are shifting into a different realm, as with Motörhead's, whose shift is nearly complete, Lemmy having been laid to rest. It is a realm of memory for those whose lives were altered by it and one of history mingled with fantasy for newcomers, but for all never to be felt in that special way again and never to be performed or witnessed again. It's odd, as if the songs are becoming ghosts.<br />&nbsp;Time passes; we hear, say Hendrix's music, a thing of history with fewer people around who experienced the actual living magic. The thing became swamped in a sea of hyperbole years and years ago, words like 'genius,' (true as they may be) over-riding the true power within and unwittingly undermining the vibe, ironically in a bid to keep the flame alight.<br />&nbsp;I can try to imagine David Bowie living on... He has done a fine job of remaining alive by illusion after death by effectively saying goodbye with the new material. I can pinpoint elements of my own output which are inspired directly by some of his. And it is true to say that without him, I may have never quite made it into being that interested in the whole shebang, the iconography, the dream, had it not been for the incredible sexiness of the man and the fucking excellent chords he sang so damn gorgeously over. He is gone and little bits (approximations) of 'him' will bubble up to the surface in other people's work. His inspiration will certainly go on as long as anybody's.<br />&nbsp;Thanks, mister Spaceman for feeding me (so many of us) the dream.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kszLwBaC4Sw" width="640"></iframe>Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-82029254611511565272014-12-30T16:27:00.001+01:002014-12-30T16:27:21.306+01:00<<< ( ( Z O F F F ) ) >>><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SuliMz7NRvQ/VKLDFziCrnI/AAAAAAAAAq4/Y_8jnI3qbQg/s1600/ZOFFF_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SuliMz7NRvQ/VKLDFziCrnI/AAAAAAAAAq4/Y_8jnI3qbQg/s1600/ZOFFF_cover.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>Z O F F F "1" is now available on CD or download from <a href="http://www.ignatiarecordings.com/" target="_blank">Ignatia Recordings</a> and also on <a href="http://zofff.bandcamp.com/releases" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>.<br />Here's the press release:<br /> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --></style> <br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>ZOFFF emerge, blinking wildly into the cosmic light to proudly unleash their delightfully fried debut album, <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Z O F F F,</span> on December 17<sup>th</sup>, in celebration of Saturnalia.</i></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>ZOFFF have been instrumental in bringing a new wave of instantly composed kosmische music to the already heady city of Brighton, England via their very own cult happenings known as Club Stramonium. </i></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is a one-track album. A 38 minutes 47 seconds raw adventure which is just as happily assimilated under the kindly shade of a gnarly, 2,000 year old Yew tree as it is being pumped through a sound-system in a sweaty underground club.</i></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>ZOFFF are Christian Hayes (Dark Star, Levitation, Cardiacs), Chris Anderson (Crayola Lectern, La Mômo), Alistair Strachan (Hamilton Yarns, Sons Of Noel And Adrian, Mary Hampton) and Damo Waters (Electric Soft Parade, Muddy Suzuki). They are joined here by Richard Gorbutt on his splendid, enormous home-made modular synthesizer, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Robert White (Milk and Honey Band, Levitation) and Jo Spratley (Spratleys Japs, Cardiacs).</i></div><i> </i><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />Close your eyes, cancel your appointments, tune in to “1” and let your mind empty itself into the eternal vistas of ZOFFF.</i></div><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-84943707803272840032014-01-02T11:56:00.001+01:002014-01-02T11:57:10.154+01:00Erik Satie's Vexations<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yJk4tQilNUw" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />I've spent the last couple of weeks figuring out how to play this - hopefully to be played at a festival in May. The original partitura tells us to play this cycle 840 times to achieve the heightened state of consciousness, which I sense is something of a joke given Satie's slightly mischievous sense of humour and taste for the absurd, however it's just as believable an idea as any. Good on him, say I. <a href="http://www.jmeshel.com/073-erik-satie-gymnopedie-no-1/" target="_blank">This blog</a> has a nice way of describing him as a bloke and not some untouchable superbeing.<br />You know the score. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMmM1HTTx60/UsVFZzubKkI/AAAAAAAAApw/NhgjJKqS1gE/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMmM1HTTx60/UsVFZzubKkI/AAAAAAAAApw/NhgjJKqS1gE/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-60451138336068109262013-10-16T21:36:00.000+01:002013-10-16T21:36:04.287+01:00Billfest - William D Drake's annual Brighton pilgrimage 14/9/13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DaScyipFnxk/Ul7us-rYpOI/AAAAAAAAApM/GMfhktlL03o/s1600/wdd-cl-posterFLAT.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DaScyipFnxk/Ul7us-rYpOI/AAAAAAAAApM/GMfhktlL03o/s320/wdd-cl-posterFLAT.gif" width="226" /></a></div>14th September and a pleasantly rammed Komedia Studio Bar buzzed with excitement at the prospect of another William D Drake band performance replete with hurdygurdy, clarinet, guitar, television organ, glockenspiel, piano and voices. Seriously folks, this has got to be the best spent seven quid for any gig. What you get with William D Drake is a wide reaching universe of songs and sounds where the word timeless actually means something. It could be 2013, 2113 or 1876 in this room, such is the power, rooting you to the spot in an extended moment of pure existence in the present tense.<br />&nbsp;Plenty of Cardiacs friends and relations abound amidst the throng to see their erstwhile hero set to the fabulous house Yamaha piano, flexing his larynx around songs old and new, his stamp having been indelibly printed upon that former band's many astounding songs whilst other people in the audience, some new to his magic, sat agape, one I saw laughing tears of joy at times.This is what it's all about, ye kidders. Life, everything.<br />&nbsp;We opened the proceedings (as the duo) with a set containing a couple of newer tunes which haven't been aired much and as ever it was a joy playing in that place to that audience. Alistair's percussion bonanza on Barbara's Persecution Complex has become quite an attraction and offsets the pathos of Crayola to great effect.<br />&nbsp;Thanks be to Tim Haillay for making it happen, Mick and Sarah Russon for travelling many miles and manning the doors and merch tables and to Bill and his band (Dug, Nicola, James, Richard and Jon) for another magic night out.<br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-91033438197430668712013-10-16T13:29:00.000+01:002013-10-16T13:30:36.635+01:00Electric Soft Parade + Crayola Lectern - Brighton & Bristol June 17th/18th 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y-GsHRl8QEA/Ul6DCp8uJmI/AAAAAAAAAo8/bNy1E-8BmEQ/s1600/CrayolaGDS-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y-GsHRl8QEA/Ul6DCp8uJmI/AAAAAAAAAo8/bNy1E-8BmEQ/s320/CrayolaGDS-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We were glad to have the chance to play a couple of gigs supporting The Electric Soft Parade whose album Idiots I've so far purchased three times in a bid to spread the word. It's an album of excellent and hearty guitar-based psychedelic pop songs, sometimes reminding me slightly of Squeeze, Jellyfish, Big Star, hell I even had a Focus moment at one point - these are all good things, by the way and of course they also sound like nothing but themselves whilst as a live band they certainly don't disappoint. So it was great to play gigs to their fans and generous of Tom and Alex to have us along.<br />&nbsp;We played at The Green Door Store as the duo and then The Louisiana in Bristol as the trio, Jon Poole availing himself to the task at hand. A great other band played the Bristol gig, called <a href="http://www.schnauser.co.uk/" target="_blank">Schnauser</a>.<br />&nbsp;Al and I crashed at my friends' house near the venue before a balmy early morning walk to the train station for our (incredibly expensive) return journey. Ah well, live and learn. This all happened ages ago now so excuse the lack of detail here. I'm just catching up....<br />(photo taken by Tony Jupp from <a href="http://www.brightonnoise.co.uk/" target="_blank">Brighton Noise</a>)<br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-27096096097759926162013-10-15T09:05:00.002+01:002013-10-15T09:16:01.453+01:00Crayola Lectern at Scaledown 31/05/13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ukEDsxn0Wm4/Ulzz0njcVDI/AAAAAAAAAog/5nLgIaQLvz4/s1600/scaledownMay13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ukEDsxn0Wm4/Ulzz0njcVDI/AAAAAAAAAog/5nLgIaQLvz4/s320/scaledownMay13.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>And so, in keeping with the point of this diary to keep some record of gigs wot have happened along the way I head back in time to the last day of May when Alistair and I found ourselves upstairs above a pub in Foly St, London W1 once again playing at Scaledown.<br />&nbsp;Incidentally, I used to own the same model of Austin motor as depicted on the flyer - a hand me down from my grandmother via my parents after having <a href="http://crayolalectern.blogspot.co.uk/2005/04/peculiar-20th-anniversary-coincidence.html" target="_blank">written off another one</a> (blue) back in 1985.<br />&nbsp;As usual, a fine and as ever eclectic mix on display, most notably from Mr Handley who had me belly laughing out loud with his witty songs. Some rather serious frettery in experimentalis from Mr Taylor and friend and fine music from the others, both sung, honked and strummed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FWBHKnyrC4M/Ulz22KcYhdI/AAAAAAAAAos/QWgaV8JXlEg/s1600/scaledownPICMay+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FWBHKnyrC4M/Ulz22KcYhdI/AAAAAAAAAos/QWgaV8JXlEg/s320/scaledownPICMay+13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />There was an earlier altercation in the evening when some lairy git turned up and a situation evolved which resulted in ankles being bitten during a wrestling bout on the floor with our host Mr Hendry, who in effect saved the day. Rock and roll!<br /><br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-53047317618196833812013-08-02T10:45:00.001+01:002013-08-02T16:43:28.618+01:00Response to The Fall And Rise Of... Crayola Lectern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJOZSfGcLUo/Uftxbo_0owI/AAAAAAAAAoE/4rBC0pyeaPw/s1600/y@.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJOZSfGcLUo/Uftxbo_0owI/AAAAAAAAAoE/4rBC0pyeaPw/s320/y@.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>&nbsp;Validation is something we might like to believe we can live without but I've got to come clean and say that the response from people whom I've admired the most over the years has been personally overwhelming in its awesomeness, with postcards from Messrs. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wyatt" target="_blank">Wyatt</a> (above) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberley_Rew" target="_blank">Rew</a> and messages from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_D._Drake" target="_blank">William D Drake</a>, North Sea Radio Orchestra's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Fortnam" target="_blank">Craig</a> and Sharron Fortnam, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Lytle" target="_blank">Jason Lytle</a> and the receiving of the news that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Smith_%28musician%29" target="_blank">Tim Smith</a> was loving it. These aren't just any old people, they're the ones whose various altars I've knelt at and who have served to soundtrack my life. It almost feels sacriligious to upload the postcard above, somehow cheapening the personal touch by my unscrupulous and unsophisticated public flaunting of a private event. But what I really want to say is - what a lovely man! Taking the time to listen to and then acknowledge the gift of an album is a generous thing indeed.<br /><br />The online reviews have been staggering - the time some writers have taken digesting the album and then creating thoughtful, entertaining reviews and interviews has been quite humbling. Ben Graham, Sam Shepherd, Rob Orchard et al, I'm looking at you. Here are a few of the links:<br /><br /><a href="http://thequietus.com/articles/11981-crayola-lectern-the-fall-and-rise-of-review" target="_blank">The Quietus - album review by Ben Graham</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/crayola-lectern-the-fall-and-rise-of" target="_blank">musicomh.com - album review by Sam Shepherd</a><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.musicomh.com/features/interviews/qa-crayola-lectern" target="_blank">musicomh.com - Crayola Lectern &lt;&lt;&lt; interview &gt;<interview>&gt;&gt;<interview></interview></interview></a><br /><a href="http://www.vanguard-online.co.uk/1305ACL.htm" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="http://www.vanguard-online.co.uk/1305ACL.htm" target="_blank">Vanguard Online - album review by Ross McGibbon</a><br /><a href="http://o.uk/2013/04/album-review-crayola-lectern-fall-and.html" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="http://o.uk/2013/04/album-review-crayola-lectern-fall-and.html" target="_blank">Flipside - album review by PKRP</a><br /><br /><a href="http://brightonmusicblog.co.uk/2013/04/06/the-fall-and-rise-of-crayola-lectern/" target="_blank">Brighton Music Blog - album review by Rob Orchard&nbsp;</a><br />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://brightonmusicblog.co.uk/2013/06/08/crayola-lectern/" target="_blank">Brighton Music Blog - Crayola Lectern&nbsp; &lt;&lt;&lt; interview &gt;<interview>&gt;&gt;<interview></interview></interview></a><br /><br /><a href="http://soundsxp.com/artman2/publish/albums/Crayola_Lectern_The_Fall_And_Rise_of.shtml" target="_blank">SoundsXP - album review by Ged M</a><br /><br /><a href="http://crayolalectern.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/gary-goodman-on-fall-and-rise-of.html" target="_blank">Painter/poet Gary Goodman's writings on the subject</a><br /><a href="http://seba-rashii.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/music-review-crayola-lectern-fall-and.html" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="http://seba-rashii.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/music-review-crayola-lectern-fall-and.html" target="_blank">Seba Rashii Culture Zine - album review by Edward Feery</a><br /><a href="http://www.resident-music.com/productdetails&amp;product_id=24574" target="_blank"><br /></a><a href="http://www.resident-music.com/productdetails&amp;product_id=24574" target="_blank">Resident Records - album review</a><br /><br /><a href="http://unsignedbandsonline.co.uk/component/k2/item/255-album-review-crayola-lectern-the-fall-and-rise-of" target="_blank">unsignedbandsonline - album review by Daniel Beech</a> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-53618208234512307112013-06-05T10:32:00.001+01:002013-06-05T10:36:15.112+01:00Nervous Breakdown at The Coach House 21/05/13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G9Vv5co3RE4/Ua8BHktpMhI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/I2WOUv2BzGU/s1600/947125_589126871121505_710545580_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G9Vv5co3RE4/Ua8BHktpMhI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/I2WOUv2BzGU/s320/947125_589126871121505_710545580_n.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>The Coach House hosted a week's worth of way out and groovy sounds. I kicked the week off on the eve of my birthday with a particularly shaky set. Unfortunately had a panic attack during the performance, rendering my hands uncontrollable for the first half. I have learned what to do now to avoid this pitiful situation in the future. I need a full sized working keyboard, a PA that works, a sound person, dim lights if an intimate gig, plenty of rest, rehearsal, preparation time, time to chill out before the gig, food, water and beta-blockers. I didn't have these things sorted for this show and suffered the consequences.<br />&nbsp;To many people reading this it might seem a tad prima donna-ish to need these things, but it is a very real and awful physical and psychological predicament for me, somewhat akin to how I imagine a heart attack feels. I wish I didn't need these things in place and that I could just sit, relaxed and play my heart out as I do when alone.<br />&nbsp;The situation improved as the set wore on, thanks to Trip In 'D' where I play the guitar, my hands steadier from holding on to something solid and we sort of survived but I imagine it will be a memorable gig for anyone present on a purely voyeuristic level.<br />&nbsp;Lots of other fantastic stuff went on at the Coach House during the rest of Beyond The Fringe as you can see from the poster and it was good to be involved in making a scene with these other people over the period.<br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-32062042442471621602013-05-24T11:47:00.000+01:002013-05-24T12:49:03.712+01:00Crayola Lectern album launch at The Wilmington Arms 19/04/13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H4aJEtf_9Js/UZ8-t2tTawI/AAAAAAAAAmw/p4-eNaog8ec/s1600/wilmolaunch+trees_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H4aJEtf_9Js/UZ8-t2tTawI/AAAAAAAAAmw/p4-eNaog8ec/s320/wilmolaunch+trees_web.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>The Wilmington Arms, EC1 was the chosen venue for the London Crayola album launch. For this show we chose the psych groop Trees And The Slipway as our guests and they played very groovy and insistent motorik beat krautrock with a fuzzed up summertime lilt. A perfect accompaniment to the full confection and it showed how our different versions of psychedelia can sit so happily alongside each other. We assembled ourselves into full Crayola Lectern band mode, namely me, Alistair Strachan, Jon Poole and Bob Leith and played through the whole album in two halves. Jon had just returned from playing in Japan with The Wildhearts and added his subotron to the usual keyboards of otherliness to merge in with the whoomph of the drums, the result being as close a rendition to the album as can be made by four humans. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-26CXtpxLceI/UZ9D63fKODI/AAAAAAAAAnA/qPZovx754QU/s1600/wilmoliveswirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-26CXtpxLceI/UZ9D63fKODI/AAAAAAAAAnA/qPZovx754QU/s320/wilmoliveswirls.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Look forward to doing a few more of these gigs when we get the chance. Happy daze.<br />Thanks to Mark Lang for the photo. <br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-22149257444672595672013-05-24T11:13:00.000+01:002013-05-24T11:13:58.416+01:00Crayola Lectern album launch at The Brunswick, Hove 17/4/13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGmfVY3H2gc/UZ8w8_ezo5I/AAAAAAAAAmQ/FPUuhYvFwNk/s1600/brunslaunchweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGmfVY3H2gc/UZ8w8_ezo5I/AAAAAAAAAmQ/FPUuhYvFwNk/s320/brunslaunchweb.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>&nbsp;In celebration of the album release it was time to play some launch gigs so we started off in Brighton and managed to sell out <a href="http://www.thebrunswick.net/events/" target="_blank">The Brunswick</a>. Do You Feel What I Feel Deer were our guests and they played and sang the most spellbinding set of songs you could ever wish for, the interplay between the duo being just spot on. Innerstrings Lightshow provided a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuDILiXNJ8w" target="_blank">pastoral backdrop of rotational slides</a> - someone said it put them in mind of Alan Garner's The Owl Service.<br />&nbsp;Alistair and I played through the album with a couple of slight changes and we played a Side one set and then after a little break a Side two set - which worked rather well. Brighton Music Blog <a href="http://brightonmusicblog.co.uk/2013/04/18/crayola-lectern-album-launch/" target="_blank">wrote a review of it all here</a> and took some more brilliant photos. Am sincerely touched by the support they've shown towards Crayola Lectern as well as some of the many stunning <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_orchard/8660212516/" target="_blank">photos</a> Rob Orchard coaxes from his lenses. Innerstrings Lightshow really pulled out some extra stops which is evident on the footage too and once again provided an ambience in which everyone present could really just slide away into. Such are the things which make gigs memorable. Not only that, Mr Tomsett went to the bother of capturing it on film and uploading it (see below).<br />&nbsp;Alistair Strachan deserves a special mention for managing to learn new keyboard parts and incorporate some of Jon Poole's magick into our duo whilst not compromising his own original parts.<br />&nbsp;Hugs to Sadie for (wo)manning the doors, selling the merch and creating Crayolacakes (which look like the swirly label on the record but taste somewhat better) - and to The Brunswick for making the process so painless whilst providing a totally vibelicious room, piano, sound system and engineer.<br />&nbsp;Oh yes and thanks of course to Chris Davies (and to Andy Suggett) for keeping the faith and putting out the release on his label <a href="http://www.bleedingheartrecordings.com/" target="_blank">Bleeding Heart Recordings</a>. <br />&nbsp;Right, that's enough speeches for now. The album can be purchased <a href="http://www.crayolalectern.com/home.cfm" target="_blank">direct from me here</a>. I'll even send you a little note of the non-musical variety with it. Also available from practically everywhere else but as I say, get it from me as if you do, I'll actually get to see a bit of the profits, innit.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3xsXYFRsMkI" width="560"></iframe><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VSRQ6KJC8So" width="560"></iframe><br />&nbsp;I*N*T*E*R*V*A*L <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EZu8xRYu1l0" width="560"></iframe><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xMlXdZoygTg" width="560"></iframe><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hmm-KVjpTcc" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-20131493013159377362013-05-24T10:08:00.002+01:002013-05-24T10:16:00.189+01:00Otti Albietz + Crayola Lectern @ The Blind Tiger Club 23/03/13Otti Albietz has played a few album launches recently in support of his <a href="http://www.bbemusic.com/releases/BBE233ADG/Otti%20Albietz%20-%20Bubbytone%20II#.UZ8pHIKvUXw" target="_blank">Bubbytone II</a> album including a sell out show at the rather grand <a href="http://stmaryinthecastle.co.uk/" target="_blank">St Mary In The Castle</a> in his hometown of Hastings. I couldn't play at this one as Bic, E-Da, Alistair, Richard Gorbutt and myself had an LSD-25 engagement For The Benefit Of Tim Smith the same night at The Brunswick in Hove (which, incidentally was quite fantastic) .... that's another story though...<br />Otti's well worth the time of day or night - there's a richness and a humanity threading through his songs and he casts the image and sounds of a travelled troubadour, drawing us in to his warm and witty songs. His band were brill too.<br />&nbsp;We supported - on the dreaded (not long enough) Nord electro (piano sound) and were appreciated by the unsuspecting audience!<br />&nbsp; Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-33843477909659487832013-05-24T09:42:00.002+01:002013-05-24T10:02:37.917+01:00Interlocutor + Crayola Lectern at The Hope, Brighton 09/03/13Alex White from <a href="http://electricsoftparade.co.uk/" target="_blank">Electric Soft Parade</a> is a man who lives and breathes his music. He wrote some soul-baring and beautiful songs for his Interlocutor project and he kindly asked us to support for their&nbsp; first gig proper at The Hope in Brighton.<br />Brighton Music Blog did a <a href="http://brightonmusicblog.co.uk/2013/03/09/interlocutor-at-the-hope-2/" target="_blank">review</a> and also Rob Orchard's <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rob_orchard/8540634071/" target="_blank">photos</a> of the occasion are rather excellent, enhanced by the awesome lights of the Innerstrings Psychedelic lightshow to whom I'm indebted for the footage of our gig below.&nbsp; <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gJ0_73t2jD4" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ifbsRf-7O3g" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fh_M01ltrXQ" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gt0PKpopzZE" width="560"></iframe> <br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-62205950686668381162013-04-14T16:45:00.001+01:002013-04-14T16:49:39.154+01:00Gary Goodman on The Fall And Rise Of Crayola Lectern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u2tVzP8zgnw/UWrQC93-yKI/AAAAAAAAAlw/E6-swyuhCXg/s1600/garyflickr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u2tVzP8zgnw/UWrQC93-yKI/AAAAAAAAAlw/E6-swyuhCXg/s320/garyflickr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Some thoughts on listening to the Fall and Rise of Crayola Lectern…<br />ink is still stained on my fingers even after scrubbing them with fairy liquid – I’d cut out stencils and found old music manuscripts and magazines from the 50s and 60s with pin-up girls and adverts for cigarettes &amp; booze and hair &amp; beauty and I printed over them –I hadn’t even had a drink but the music made me feel dizzy and that woozy feeling of cigarettes &amp; booze consumed too quickly and also so familiar in its utter unique strangeness of individual celebration – it is the sound of human machines letting us know that they find the world beautiful if you allow it to be – if you let it spin and turn and you are yourself turned on and opened up to that turning on and you are a big receptacle of wonderful emotion-gathering because we know the importance of listening to our children and all you need to do is talk with them and exist in a world and in the same town as a man who breaks your heart with 4 words sung so like the sound of sunset itself becoming a dying egg slowly and gently cracking alone into its little nest of twigs and bits of straw and sawdust – ‘I will never hurt..’<br />sung or said or croaked – something moving out from his mouth like a delicate chick emerging into the world unpolite and necessary and how can you imagine a world now without that phrase in it in this context and it’s a hard world for little things where animals look over their shoulders trying to scratch a living and there are families and friends who help you become what you’re best at – the beast is in your brain when your head lays itself on the pillow and sleep closes your eyes – thought dreams ribbon through the waking air in the car on the way to work or they stride out all wonderful when you drive home from a day out in the countryside and they sometimes settle like uncomfortable ash or greying snowflakes in the front room when everybody is still asleep on cold eternal mornings and these sounds make you paint better when they accompany your efforts in the studio and they float and drip and fly and catch you unaware and pull the rug out from under your feet – you feel at times cut adrift and then able to float and fly solo towards insightful knowledge and reflection - who really does know where the time goes but the clock sometimes wobbles and bulges and then it wheezes like an asthmatic accordion and you watch the second hand stutter in a fuzz of fever delirium going backwards and forwards of its own accord – there is a vase of roses on the table where nobody sits anymore and they are dying and their colours are fading until they become the same pale dusty hue of forever and they are brilliant again – we all have it in us to be brilliant but we don’t all have the wherewithal or the desire or compulsion to shine a light into the murky corners of our existence – with this music the beautiful and frightening world is now a little more beautiful.<br /><a href="http://garygoodman.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Gary Goodman</a> 14.04.13 Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-40352841350949514032013-03-20T15:15:00.002+01:002013-03-20T15:49:32.148+01:00Brian Eno - a disingenuous attempt to capture his attentionWell, I had an idea lodged in my bubblehead that a few of my heroes might fancy hearing the Crayola Lectern album. It hadn't occurred to me that of course they fucking don't, and what a twattish conceit to harbour - so I won't send these people copies after all. Preserve my dignity and their sanity. I know these people aren't gods and that we're all just people together, going through our lives in our different ways.<br /><br />&nbsp;Anyway, like a rather presumptuous ass, I googled "Brian Eno contact" and clicked on this fine gem:<br /><a href="http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/email.html">http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/email.html</a><br />&nbsp;I hadn't considered that it's got nothing to do with whether he'd actually like it or not, more that I should look at my own ulterior motives in wanting to send it. It also implies a deep seated arrogance on my part in this huge, rich whole wide world of music to think that I am important enough to gain the chap's attention, let alone approval, let alone (ulterior motive time) an offer to work on the next record, whatever - it's just wrong and deeply uncool to have even considered these things. I'm quite ashamed.<br /><br />&nbsp;Truth is, the album I've made with Jon and Alistair is as good as it could ever be. To my ears it is perfect. I really shouldn't need to seek approval anymore and shoe on the other foot, I wouldn't relish the feeling of responsibility of having people sending me their demos which I then wouldn't have the time (let alone inclination) to give a satisfactory listen (let alone, response) to.<br /><br />&nbsp;Still, you never know, in a moment of weakness, Brian, should you ever google yourself, spare a thought for....well, y'know. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-34818663262295820112013-02-25T18:22:00.001+01:002013-02-25T18:22:10.233+01:00Piano Improvisation #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzBOWGDkUZGF7G1-SYCd1UR8HS9cbxWI-K_Qw8Bo98Ctp8IUmUwUA_is4WkszE8V6EP340QWNfHn8Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><br />Does watching music change how we perceive our response?<br /><br />Recorded this today on the Kemble Minx. It is simply what it is and only existed in the moment it was made. Having made other solo piano improvisations (uploaded onto my Podbean and Soundcloud accounts) I wondered if seeing the thing occur on a screen would in some way detract from any intrinsic strengths the piece may have. I can listen to improvisations quite happily without visual stimulus as it allows me to float off with the music to a different realm. This all somehow relates to the whole Soundcloud thing of watching the audio waveform as it travels through the music or being in a modern studio and looking at the waveforms in Pro Tools et al.<br /><br />&nbsp;So I'm wondering to myself whether this sounds better or worse for having the visual element of the hands to accompany the sounds. I think probably worse in some way as it demands a different kind of attention and doesn't allow you to drift off a bit, but hell, truth is I've got a fancy phone with a camera and I'm gonna use it!Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-68665187168146819562013-02-22T11:33:00.000+01:002013-02-22T11:59:43.089+01:00Crayola Lectern at Splitting The Atom XIII - Hastings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xsQgfJG0McM/USdJL1BIz-I/AAAAAAAAAlg/ATR9PIa2PgE/s1600/atomXIV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xsQgfJG0McM/USdJL1BIz-I/AAAAAAAAAlg/ATR9PIa2PgE/s320/atomXIV.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />Played an improv set at Splitting The Atom alldayer at the Roomz in St Leonards last week. I did a duo with E-Da Kazuhiza. Lots of crazy noise experimenters and a great sense of fun throughout the event. Really refreshing to hear people doing something different. Playing notes not necessarily a requirement. Here are some 45 second clips of what went on that day including us near the end.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rokvwPR0eJ4" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />And <a href="http://meshmass.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/meshmass-in-pursuit-of-their-evil-plans.html?m=1" target="_blank">here is the write up of the event</a> as perceived through the kosmic eye of Meshmass.Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-28164996746321484992013-02-22T11:18:00.001+01:002013-02-22T11:18:10.361+01:00Crayola Lectern at The Coach House 14/12/12 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rmn40JbVCk/USdC8_HaKtI/AAAAAAAAAlE/CjqzU8WHYLg/s1600/cl_coachouse_14.12.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rmn40JbVCk/USdC8_HaKtI/AAAAAAAAAlE/CjqzU8WHYLg/s320/cl_coachouse_14.12.12.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>Way back in Dec 2012 I played a gig at the Coach House to the smallest audience I've yet played to. Bit of a cock up on the PR front there but I will say the evening was otherwise splendid with charming sets by the other performers. I was in a strange mood however, tired from lack of sleep and amp and piano lugging, a bit moody/shy and very upset by the news of the school shootings in Colorado, finding it difficult to connect somehow. Thanks to Rob Orchard to getting this fab photograph though.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LVOnvp3T0T0/USdFAwnvdlI/AAAAAAAAAlU/bU39z5zFPCM/s1600/IMG_5231ee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LVOnvp3T0T0/USdFAwnvdlI/AAAAAAAAAlU/bU39z5zFPCM/s320/IMG_5231ee.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I don't think it can have been a bad gig as such - I just wasn't quite all there. Thank heavens Mr Strachan's multiple skills came into action on the night. Setlist to follow if I find it.<br /><br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-16761242392423458762012-12-20T20:14:00.001+01:002012-12-20T20:14:14.660+01:00Bleeding Hearts Christmas Party 03/12/12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvlEg0l1q54/UNNd5c6S34I/AAAAAAAAAkw/eKxxdKCKDJw/s1600/cl_bhcp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvlEg0l1q54/UNNd5c6S34I/AAAAAAAAAkw/eKxxdKCKDJw/s320/cl_bhcp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I walked in to the Bleeding Hearts Christmas party brandishing a casiotone and an idea in my head to play Bat Out Of Hell and White Christmas, the idea being that each group has to play one number one and one christmas song. As I entered the room I noticed it to be rather packed with various recognizable&nbsp; musicians, everyone seemingly very comfortable in the surroundings as various acts took either to the stage or remained at their tables to play the tunes they'd picked.<br />&nbsp;I instantly decided that Bat Out Of Hell was a bad idea, being too long, too potentially disastrous especially on a casiotone and just plain wrong and I secreted the keyboard under my table and forgot all about possibly having to play.<br />&nbsp;The lingering doubt remained however and sure enough, just as I thought I'd escaped the ordeal I was duly summoned to entertain the assembled throng. Now, there had been quite a few rather decent people playing at this event, I had particularly enjoyed Clowns' acoustic and quite gentlemanly take on Anarchy In The UK, complete with very pretty (to the point of inappropriateness) backing vocals and now it was my turn. As the last notes of somebody covering Baker Street died away, I launched into White Christmas unfortunately sang an octave too high which was a devastating start, the whole point of the song is that it's a crooner and really needed to be in the lower register - but as Magnus Magnussen would've said: "I've started so I'll finish," and my dreadful falsetto stumbled its way through to the end. Boy, am I glad that one didn't get recorded. I managed to segue neatly into the opening chords of Bat Out Of Hell which went surprisingly smoothly,&nbsp; and despite taking up the best part of ten minutes (or so it felt) was generally appreciated, although I must admit I did sense an element of relief in the final applause.<br />&nbsp;And that was how the Bleeding Hearts Club ended their tenure at The Albert - with Bat Out Of Hell. Probably quite fitting really. I hope they're back someday - seems like there'll be a big gap in Brighton's monthly entertainments without them.<br />&nbsp;The photo of Crayola Lectern was borrowed from <a href="http://brightonmusicblog.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Brighton Music Blog</a> who wrote about the night <a href="http://brightonmusicblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/bleeding-hearts-christmas-party/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8801182.post-23811438413269449642012-12-20T00:24:00.002+01:002012-12-20T00:46:26.304+01:00Celebricide, La Mômo, Thee Bald Knobbers 1/12/12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o0_Kc5t0i9g/UNJHKlxEAJI/AAAAAAAAAkM/6-Ddj2JAgl8/s1600/705984_476918375692284_450561440_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o0_Kc5t0i9g/UNJHKlxEAJI/AAAAAAAAAkM/6-Ddj2JAgl8/s320/705984_476918375692284_450561440_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I did a triple band gig thang.<br />&nbsp;First off, bass in <b>Thee Bald Knobbers</b> - this incarnation a four piece - with Graham Newbury drumming was fantastic and put me exactly in the same mental spot that I was once in back in 1993 at The Cricketers in the Oval when I stood in on bass for the very fabulous but absent Lewi in the seminal groop of pronkoid skronkers, Skree with Graham pummeling seven shades of shit out of the drums, only here, back in The Cowley 2012, we wore the black masks with the little white horns/antennae and had Kev doing his voodoo incantations through three megaphones in place of (Skree's) Ray Dickaty's saxophonic former maelstroms of invention.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>&nbsp;Then Sadie and I whacked out another fast and furious 27'34" <b>La Mômo</b> set - all our drum machine tracks now come out of the iPhone so there's only ever two seconds to get our shit together between songs - actually makes for an amusing if hectic spectacle but was happily received by those in attendance. We managed to bag a Lene Lovich band support slot in March on the back of it. Thanks to Lucy for the pic.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ9uFmwndPA/UNJNZCXX-9I/AAAAAAAAAkg/ka7EiKpZY54/s1600/468632_10151283161499921_1233521678_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ9uFmwndPA/UNJNZCXX-9I/AAAAAAAAAkg/ka7EiKpZY54/s320/468632_10151283161499921_1233521678_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />&nbsp;Finally <b>Celebricide</b> played. We never know if it'll be the last. Must say, it was possibly my favourite gig so far - something about the Club Zygotic / Cowley Club ethos (if there indeed is one, maybe I'm imagining it) which sits very comfortably with Celebricide. For a band that should be playing BIG venues, this is a case where a small place suits just right.<br />&nbsp;The clip below is from the Tim Leopard's World Of Pain series which features our set opener, Lost, filmed at the show.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ejC_UMpNJi8" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18421405938481190065noreply@blogger.com0